1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to railcars for transporting vehicles, typically also called vehicle carriers, and more particularly, directed toward aluminum vehicle carrier railcars.
2. Background Information
Railcars have long been used for transporting vehicles, in particular automobiles and light trucks, long distances generally from the point of manufacture or import location to dealerships or locations where the automobiles or trucks can be subsequently transported by truck. As with other freight, a vehicle carrying railcar is designed to carry a maximum number of motor vehicles in each railcar. This has lead to the development of a bi-level or tri-level vehicle carrier railcar. In addition to the desire to carry a maximum number of vehicles on each vehicle carrier railcar, the existing railcars have been designed to minimize damage or vandalism of the vehicles such that many vehicle carrying railcars are designed as an enclosed structure.
Conventionally, the existing vehicle carrier railcars are formed of steel. The steel enclosure found in conventional vehicle carrier railcars presents other problems for the railcar. Steel is susceptible to oxidation, i.e., rust or corrosion, which can be particularly damaging to the top coat and finish coat of new automobiles or trucks contained within the interior of the railcar. To avoid this problem, conventional steel vehicle carrier railcars are painted to provide a protected area between the steel and the automobiles carried in the railcar interior. The painting of the interior of the vehicle carrier railcar requires a certain amount of material and labor at manufacturing. More significantly, the painted surfaces introduce significant maintenance requirements for the vehicle carrier railcars. The vehicle carrier railcars must be periodically repainted to maintain the appropriate protection or barrier layer between the steel car and the carried vehicles. This repainting is labor-intensive, time consuming and holds the associated railcar out of service during the maintenance procedure. Some attempts have been made to address this solution such as a fiberglass panel articulated railcar disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,491 assigned to Trinity.
In addition to painting of the interior surface to provide a barrier layer between the steel vehicle carrier railcars and the automobiles carried in the interior, the prior art railcars often utilize an anti-skid paint on the decking surfaces to accommodate pedestrian traffic. This specialized paint further increases the cost of the prior art railcars. The non-skid paint is provided since the decking, at least selected portions of the decking, is utilized as a walkway for workers loading and unloading vehicles onto the vehicle carrier.
The object of the present invention is to address the problems of the above-cited prior art. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a lightweight vehicle carrier railcar constructed from non-corroding materials adjacent to the load carrying interior. A further object of the present invention is to provide an efficient, cost-effective, non-slip area for workers loading and unloading vehicles from the vehicle carrier. Another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight uni-body vehicle carrier railcar.